


Flurry of Fire: For 8 Days of Axel

by spiffyperson



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-16 04:10:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19310359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiffyperson/pseuds/spiffyperson
Summary: Fulfilling the 8 Days of Axel prompts for 2019.1. Traitor. 2. Tear Drops|Emotions. 3. Training. 4. Chakrams|Keyblade. 5.Outfits. 6. New Friendships. 7.Reunions. 8. Free Day.I'll add tags as necessary.





	1. Traitor

“Your job will be eliminating any traitors in our midst. It is of the utmost importance.”

Long after he had been given those orders, he wondered what really made someone a traitor. It wasn’t unknown that most of the Organization members despised each other, always throwing jabs and looking for weaknesses to tear the other down. Sure, there were moments of camaraderie, but Axel knew that it was all an act, carefully orchestrated for to suit one’s own goals. There was no real friendships there, and anything that resembled one was born out of lingering memories that reminded them to act a certain way.

He was the same of course, but he still wondered. None of them held loyalty to one another in the first place, and none of them believed in their fellow compatriots. Could someone really betray the Organization if there was never any basis of trust?

There was only one person, for awhile, where he knew it could be called betrayal if they pulled against each other, but after awhile he began to wonder if it even mattered. Sure, he was flippant and sarcastic, and Saix was angry and disgusted, but in the end, neither of them could physically care about a little bit of betrayal.

Right?

What made a traitor?

“Axel?”

“Hm?” He turned to Xion, ice cream stick held between his teeth. He had been gnawing on it for the past couple minutes since he had finished the sweet and salty treat, an idle tick to keep his mouth preoccupied for once. Her own treat was only partially eaten, the rest melted into a sad puddle besides her where Roxas normally sat.

Roxas hadn’t come. Axel wondered if he hadn't shown up, would the boy have shown up to sit with Xion? He wasn’t sure. Right now he felt a distance between the two of them, a distance he had built to try and protect them with, but it still tugged at the hole that used to be his heart.

He could still see the horror in his eyes as he forcibly took Xion back to the organization, and he now knew what it was like for someone to look at him in betrayal.

What made a traitor?

“Why aren’t I… I mean, I ran away from the Organization… why am I not being punished?”

“What? You don’t want to be punished, do you?”

“No,” She seemed to fold in on herself, and he felt a weight in his arms, as if trying to remind him how to comfort someone.

He wanted to comfort a puppet, a replica. To brush away emotions that didn’t even exist for them, shouldn’t even exist for them. But no, Xion was more than that, just like the other replica he had used so callously before. There was no puppet in either of them, and there was more heart in their shell of a body then he had in years.

What made a traitor?

“I guess I’m just waiting for…”

“... the other shoe to drop. Yeah, I get that,” he looked off, staring at the sunset. After years of coming here, he was sure the colors would forever be burned beneath his eyes. “It's not really the Organization’s way, doling out punishment. At most you’ll get put on more mission roster’s, maybe a snarky comment here or there.”

“No punishment at all?”

“No,” he took the stick out from between his teeth, staring at the countless bite marks that covered the words 'Winner!' printed onto it. “You’re still useful, and you came back. There’s no need to do anything about it. If there was, I’d-”

He froze, the stick slipping out from his fingers, fluttering down to the stone courtyard below..

What would he do?

What did he always do when there was a traitor?

“Axel?”

“...sorry,” he swallowed. “Slip of the tongue. Used to things before you... uh… Nothing’s going to happen to you. I wouldn’t let it, I brought you back right? I’ll look out for you, because we’re friends.”

“Best of friends,” she said softly. “But… if we weren’t friends… what would you do if you were told to… give me punishment.”

What made a traitor?

He stared off, thinking back to Castle Oblivion, to the sly way Marluxia had given him his orders. How he had gleefully taken them.

“Eliminate the traitor.”

“No taking that back later.”

If he refused, would that have made him a traitor as well?

He already knew the answer to that.

“I’m not going to punish you, so there’s no need to even think about it,” he waved a hand. “C’mon, lets RTC. No need to stir up any more trouble.”

“Ok.”

He led her to a spot where any townspeople below looking up wouldn’t notice a yawning void of energy opening up, taking them away from the sunny scene. He let Xion lead the way, walking slowly to the only place they could call home, that would never be home.

What made a traitor?

Probably, whatever it was that made up himself. He just didn’t quite know why yet.

\--

“Only for your betrayal to surpass them all.”

The words jolted himself out of the small doze he had fallen into, and he blinked a few times, trying to keep some of the neverending dust of the Keyblade Graveyard from falling into his eyes. He squinted as he slowly pushed himself up, looking around.

Xion and Roxas were seated in front of him, picking through the potions and elixir’s he had brought with him, muttering quietly as they worked out how to split it up between them. He hadn’t exactly packed with tag a longs in mind, and they’d all need something to keep on them, just in case. Roxas glanced up, giving him a look of concern at his sudden movement.

“You should go back to sleep, you need the rest.”

“Eurgh, I can take a nap later,” he viciously rubbed his hand over his face, leaning forward. “We should probably start moving anyways. I don’t trust whatever Xehanort’s doing to just stay in one place.”

“You’re still not fully healed up,” Xion picked up one of the smaller potions, looking back at him in concern. “I think you should take another of these.”

He had gotten hit hard, harder than the both of them, and he could still feel the countless bruises that laid underneath his coat. In fact, after all this, the coat would probably have to be thrown away, he could feel parts where it was threatening to tear due to the onslaught of lasers Xemnas had thrown at it.

He was surprisingly ok with that. The coat had been kind of a security blanket for the past decade, but now he knew he didn’t need it anymore.

“Nah, we should save it. I can still talk and walk, can still fight if necessary,” he pushed himself up slowly, stretching himself up. “I’ll be fine. Let's start moving. I can fill you in on the details as we go.”

They gathered their things and fell into step one another, moving slowly. None of them really wanted to get into another fight, and it was better to be cautious then walk into something unawares.

“Axel?”

“Yeah?” He looked down at his two companions, seeing two bright blue eyes staring at him curiously. “Woah what is it?”

“Just,” Xion rubbed her wrist, avoiding the hand that had gotten burned on Xemnas’ weapon. “Are we gonna be ok? I know we’re all together, and Sora’s here to stop Xehanort but…”

“We did all just betray the Organization. For real this time,” Roxas nodded.

Lea blinked, considering. He knew that in the eyes of the Organization, in the eyes of Xemnas, they had all had become traitors the moment Xion disappeared, Roxas left, and Axel followed. Although now it did feel certain, they all made the choice now to fight back, to be guardians of light and take a stand for each other.

What made a traitor?

“Well, we are all traitor’s now. Great big one’s,” Lea nodded, smirking at their looks of alarm. “But it's fine. Cause I guess for once, we’re all traitor’s at the same time finally,” he bent down so he they wouldn’t have to strain to look up at him. “And if we’re all traitor’s, then that means we’re on the right side, our side. We’ll be fine. Got it memorized?”

They shared a look before nodding, smiling brightly at him. He smiled back before gesturing for them to keep walking.

“You were never my superior.”

What made a traitor?

The words he shared with Xemnas rung out in his head and he let himself have a small weak smile. He had spoken the truth, he never gave his heart, his loyalty to the Organization. He was a traitor from day one, never a loyal bone in his body.

Because he had better people waiting for him to give his loyalty to. And he knew, he’d never betray any of them ever again.


	2. Teardrops|Emotions

“And here,” Merlin opened the door with a flourish, the sleeves of his robe flapping about. “Is your new home!”

Lea ducked his head down as he peered around the bedroom. Despite all of the low entryways (its as if Merlin never heard of anyone taller than six feet before), the room appeared to be made to perfectly fit someone of his height. Directly across from the door was a large window, covered by white curtains. Next to that in a corner was a long single bed, with covers the shade of blue that reminded him of the roofing on Yen Sid’s tower, and an enormous pillow set on top. Across was a simple desk and chair, and next to that a small standing closet, undoubtedly for any clothes he had.

He adjusted the collar of his coat. Clothes. When was the last time he wore something that wasn’t black leather.

“Cozy,” he slipped inside, putting a hand on his hip as he tweaked open the curtain to the window, peering outside. The sun was setting on this world, and he knew it would be forever setting, but not like how Twilight Town’s sun never set. Here, it was frozen along with everything else, time twisted to allow for a compressed education in keyblades.

He let the curtain drop, turning back to Merlin. “If its never night here, are you really expecting me to need a bedroom?”

“Time still passes for you despite the magic at work here,” the wizard stroked his long beard, nodding. “The outside world moves much slower, true, so a day out there may feel like a week in here, or even longer. Which means I suppose for anyone looking in, it will appear that you’re taking seven naps for their one day!”

“Wow, seven naps. Sounds like a dream,” he rubbed his neck, trying not to think too hard about the magic in place. “So, what now?”

“Now, settle in. Did you bring anything to unpack? Now would be a good time to get all that put away.”

He didn’t own anything. He had gone back to Radiant Garden simply to update Ienzo on what the current situation was and to see if anyone else had woken up (Dilan was stirring, but Even was still out cold) before returning back to Yen Sid’s tower, to properly begin the training he had all but bullied his way into.

No getting rid of him now at least.

“No need, I travel light,” He gestured to himself. “This is all I’ve ever needed.”

“Hm. Well, you will find simple pajamas that should fit you in there,” the wizard gestured to the standing closet. “I also magiced up some exercise clothes as well. Your current ensemble I must say has quite the array of protections on it, but as we will not be dabbling in darker magic, you won’t need to wear it daily.”

He didn’t know what he felt about that. But he simply nodded. “Right. Got it memorized.”

“Good,” Merlin moved out of the room, glancing back at Lea. “Rest up, tomorrow will be a busy day, especially since you have finally summoned your keyblade! No more holding back!”

“Great. That's what I’m here for.”

“Of course! Good night Lea.”

The wizard shut the door behind him, and Lea looked around the room.

“Well… cozier then the castle I guess.”

Sitting heavily on the bed, he pulled off his boots, tossing them as he let out a long held sigh. It had been a hectic time since he had woken up, and he was only now feeling the impact of no sleep since he had stared at his reflection back in Radiant Garden, looking for teardrops that no longer marked his skin. He slumped backwards onto the bed, closing his eyes.

He really should change. He wasn’t a nobody anymore, and human bodies had a habit of stinking if they stayed in one set of clothes for too long.

Struggling back up he yanked off his gloves, tossing them onto the desk. Pausing for a second, he looked down at his hands, flexing them.

Solid. Skin, blood, and bones. Nothing at all like the twisting dark energy that held together a nobody.

It felt wrong. 

“Ugh… this is what I get for losing my heart as a teen,” he mumbled to himself, standing up so he could take off his coat, eyeing the closet. Merlin said there was pajamas in there, he would have to check. Sliding the coat off, he was about to move to look for something comfortable when he froze, the air cool on his skin.

He hadn’t noticed when he had first woken up.

No one ever really wore a shirt underneath the coat, or at least that's what it seemed like for those in the Organization. Wearing a full length leather coat all the time was a quick way to cook a person alive, adding a shirt underneath just sped up the process. It was even worse for himself, as once he had picked up fire magic it seemed like he was always running hotter than everyone else. The chilly rooms of the castle was a necessary evil for any of them to survive.

So when he removed the coat, he could see covering the skin of his chest was red raw burns. For a moment he thought it was his entire torso before realizing that it seemed to fade out the farther away it had gotten from his chest, and that he was actually mistaking a nasty scar on his side as part of the mess.

He knew that he had given himself the burns, but the knowledge behind the scar hit him like a train.

“Ha...ha…” the coat slipped from his hand he struggled to sit back down, but he missed the bed, collapsing onto the ground. He hadn’t noticed the scars before, ignoring the uncomfortable way the coat fell on his body. He just thought it was because he was human again, that he wasn’t used to how clothes felt on a truly physical form. Now that he was aware of it he could really feel the lingering pain, his skin pleading with him for some relief from the irritation his fire had left on him.

The scar at his side barely ached, but the lack of sensation there hit him even harder then raw, screaming skin.

Clutching both sides of his head, he stared down at the ground, mind racing as he tried to think. Nobodies didn’t get scars, the only marks on them from when they were human. Any wounds they received would slowly pass with time into nothing. So why were these still here, how did they follow him into recompletion. Why did his mistakes keep following him, hounding him as if escape was simply a fantasy and-

“Oh,” He covered his mouth, hunching into himself as he gritted his teeth. “Oh...,” he started shaking as the tears fell, forcing their way out, almost torn from him in a wave of anguish.

He had cried plenty of times before. When he was a kid, Isa would tease him for being a crybaby. As a Nobody, the urge came less, but near the end of that existence he felt his eyes fill with tears on occasion. It was never like this though, his body convulsing as he desperately choked back sobs, trying not to scream out in anguish from the pain of his memories. He felt like his chest was trying to burst, to free the heart inside him that was just newly healed.

He scrambled on his knees, knocking aside the desk chair as he quickly looked for something, anything to draw with. He threw out drawers, eyes scanning their contents, looking desperately for something.

“Lea?” He heard a knock on the door. “What in good heavens is going on-”

“GO AWAY,” he meant to sound angry, vicious and cruel. Axel had taught him how to act well. But instead it came out choked, sobs shaking his body as he tossed aside another failed drawer, hearing something shatter behind him.

He didn’t hear Merlin try again, and that was just fine with him.

Looking in the last drawer (it had to be in that one didn’t it) he took out a black marker from it, shakily working to uncap it. Raising it up to his face, he tried to line it up right, to stop the flow of tears.

He usually didn't give himself the upside down teardrops. Before they were tattooed on his cheeks with binding magic, Isa had been the one to carefully draw them on, evenly spaced and perfect. He never needed to do it himself, because someone always helped him through those tough times.

The touch of the marker on his face and he already knew the placement was wrong, and with a growl of disgust he threw the marker he had worked so hard to find away from him before fully collapsing on the floor, wrapped around himself as the sobs grew.

Every failure, every act of desperation, hit him now, all of it reminding him how a heart truly worked. It was painful, and he felt like he’d never recover from the sadness. Everything was happening now, all the things he didn’t feel behind his wall of stubborn refusal to see he had a heart growing inside him, it was all hear and he would never recover.

He couldn’t see the tears ever stopping.

His pain went on forever.

But finally, they did stop, and he was left blinking in their absence. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but finally it was just him lying there, staring blankly at the wall across from him, feeling the tears dry on his cheeks.

He was exhausted.

He didn’t want to go to sleep. Sleep was being still, sleep tempted more memories of pain and loneliness that he couldn’t deal with now. He needed to do something.

Shakily pushing himself into a sitting position, he glanced around the room with a grimace. Given a nice room and he already destroyed it. He just couldn’t help himself from mucking things up, could he? Standing up he looked around for a trash can for some of the broken bits from inside the drawer he had thrown, and when he didn’t find one he sighed, heading to the door. He’d have to see if that kitchen he was shown earlier had anything he could use to clean up his mess. It would be a good way to stay distracted anyways.

Opening the door, he blinked a few times, trying to take in the sight that greeted him.

Merlin was seated next to the door in a chair that wasn’t there earlier, quietly reading a book as a tea set hovered next to him. Taking a moment to notice that he was being stared at, he looked up, giving Lea a small smile.

“Ah, there you are. You look like you need a handkerchief,” he flicked his wand, and Lea was confronted with three different one’s dancing out in front of him.

“I… uh…” he took the light pink one that was closest, quickly trying to wipe away the signs of his breakdown. “Why are you… here?”

“I was worried my boy,” he stood up, tea set following him. “This world is rather quiet, so you’ll find that its hard to miss large crashing noises.”

He felt guilt set in his stomach, glancing back at the room. “I’m sorry…”

“Never to fear!” the wizard looked in. “Nothing a simple spell will fix.”

“What-”

With another flick of his wand, the room shifted. All of the drawers slotted back into the desk, the broken items and papers gone in a flash. In no time at all it looked just like how it did when he first entered, except his boots were neatly placed next to the closet, his coat hanging over the chair.

He placed a hand on his chest, aware of how exposed he was suddenly.

“Now that's fixed, tea,” the wizard nudged the teaset over to him, already pouring him out a cup. “How do you like it?”

“I… what are you doing?” he could feel his exhaustion sinking in deeper to his skin, and he could barely fight back as Merlin automatically poured cream into his tea, despite the fact he would never take it that way.

“I am giving my student tea, obviously,” he nodded at Lea firmly. “What would you like me to do?”

“...what?”

“Do you need anything from me? Anything I can do for you?”

“You don’t… have to do anything for me. I’m…” he struggled with words before finally spitting it out. “Fine.”

“Lea, you are a newly recompleted human,” Merlin moved back to his chair, sitting and giving the tall man a pointed look. “One who hasn’t properly felt emotions since your teenage years. Master Yen Sid filled me in on your situation. I doubt you are simply fine as you say.”

“...but I-”

The wizard held up a hand, and Lea stopped, looking down at his tea. “Lea. It is alright to have your emotions get the better of you. While I would hope in the future you gain healthier habits then tearing your room apart and… apparently drawing on your face,” Lea raised a hand where he had tried to draw a teardrop, wondering how it looked. “I will not berate you for it. I am not a wizard too judge others.”

“I… its…” he didn’t really know how to respond to Merlin, so he took a sip of his tea instead, making a face at the flavor.

No sugar. Bad.

“Do not push yourself so hard to put things into words now my boy. We have just met, I do not expect you to be comfortable in opening up to me so suddenly. Nor do I have an expectation of you one day opening your emotions to me, you are free to choose where you lie your pains,” he pointed his wand at Lea threateningly through, and the man wondered if it would be easier just to speak to this old man. “Let your emotions out as they need to be. And know that I am here to assist in any capacity you may wish of me,” he graced Lea with a serene smile. “I am after all, your teacher, and you my student. It is my job to look after you.”

He hadn’t been looked after in years. In fact, even with Roxas (why did he feel like he needed to add a name to that thought), he always felt like he had to be the one to take care of his friend, that if he was alright, then he had no space to worry about himself. What mattered the most was that his friends were ok.

Right?

Perhaps gaining a heart would teach him that caring wasn’t always just a one way street. The way Merlin peered up at him made him want to believe in his words.

“Ok… ok… um… can I get some sugar for this?”

“Of course,” Merlin whisked two lumps of sugar into his tea. “Now, since you appear to not be getting any rest, why don’t I go show you this new invention Chip and Dale sent over. Get your mind off things for awhile.”

“Uh… sure, why not,” he hesitated, before heading back into the room, putting down his cup of tea and opening the closet. As Merlin said, there were pajamas in his size sitting in there, and he grabbed a T-shirt, tossing it on. “Lets go.”

He still felt the irritation of his skin beneath the fabric, but for now he could ignore it. He could let himself be distracted from his tears for at least an hour.

He was human now. Despite all the pain he felt, he knew that in his future, there had to be some joy he’d be feeling as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In DDD, Lea moves pretty fast after waking up, so I don't think he really got a chance to take in everything that's happened and just... be upset about it. Realizing that the burn marks from you exploding yourself (and your ex best friend stabbed you, manga version at least) stayed around is probably an easy way to start tumbling into a lot more painful things.
> 
> Also why Merlin? I dunno, I like the side Disney characters that stick around to help that aren't part of the usual Disney worlds.


	3. Training

“Today I want the two of you to practice sparring together.”

Lea froze, the toast that he was about to take a bite into hovering inches away from his mouth, his eyes locked onto the wizard in discomfort. Merlin was carefully buttering an english muffin, nodding to himself as if he had just announced a solution to all their problems. “It will be beneficial to the both of you I believe, and shake up the tedium of lessons a bit.”

“Are you sure we’re ready for that?” he saw Kairi frown, also seated at the breakfast table, but on the opposite side from him so she was as far as possible in this small kitchen. “We’ve only been practicing for a week so far.”

“Better earlier than later my dear, to make sure to get any bad habits out of the way early. And it will be safer then sending you straight into fighting heartless, those buggers can be a tad more unpredictable than human instinct. After you two clean up, get to the training ring. Lea, you may want to get a head start to make sure your keyblade’s ready.”

“Sure,” he could feel Kairi’s eyes on him, and he took a large bite of his toast to keep himself occupied, standing up before anything else could be asked on him. “See you there.”

Hurrying away and out of the small cottage that Merlin had created for them, he let out a heavy breath of air as he began walking to the training ring. Flexing his fingers he flung his hand out, waiting for a flash of light.

Nothing.

He scowled at knowing this was exactly why Merlin had not so subtly suggested he head out first.

Despite having successfully summoned his keyblade (he could still see Yen Sid’s look of shock when it happened), and a few successful attempts after that, it still refused to come easily to his hand. There was some odd disconnect between him and the blade, as if it was reluctant to leave wherever it existed when he wasn’t using it. When he did manage to summon it, he would spend a long time keeping it clenched in his hand, afraid to dismiss it in the chance that he wouldn’t be able to bring it back again. The whole situation was probably karma for forcing his way into getting a keyblade, everyone still confused as how it was even possible for him to possess one. 

Kairi was able to summon her keyblade just fine, and it unnerved him just the tiniest bit.

He hadn’t gotten much warning that she would be training as a keyblade wielder as well, and originally wasn’t expecting to see her for a very long time. He did want to eventually apologize to her, for the kidnapping and being generally just a jerk, but he was expecting more time before he would come face to face with one of his mistakes before recompletion.

It was his third day in the timeless realm, and he had almost gotten comfortable there, focussed on the frankly ridiculous training he was getting. He had been strolling into the kitchen, planning to ask Merlin if he could write up a grocery list for the next time he left the world, when he suddenly he was staring at both Riku and Kairi. They were both sitting at the breakfast table, each looking at him with various emotions on their face.

Riku was squinting in his direction, as if trying to find something wrong with his appearance, and when it seemed like he was reassured by what he saw he gave the tall man a simple nod. After he had saved Sora, the silver haired boy seemed to have accepted his presence, if not with a little bit of exasperation at his constant showy attitude and sarcasm.

Kairi on the other hand, was looking at him with open faced uncertainty and distrust, and for a moment he wondered if anyone had told her he was there. He couldn’t imagine what it felt like to suddenly be confronted with the man who attempted to kidnap her, only to let her fall into even worse hands then his own.

“Ah good, Lea, excellent timing! Kairi will be joining us from here on out in your keyblade training,” Merlin was smiling warmly, as if there wasn’t a tension in the air thicker than the oatmeal he cooked. “I was just filling her and Riku in on some of the details surrounding these lessons and the magic of this world.” 

“You have a keyblade?” He could’ve exploded himself right then and there all over again. That was his first words to her? Really? Not even an attempt at greeting?

She frowned at him, holding up her hand and he watched in dumb founded shock as in a flash of white petals the delicate looking keyblade formed. It gleamed and was covered in perfectly shaped flowers, looking more like a display piece then a weapon. But he could tell immediately that it fit her, and probably with the right amount of work could be shaped into something deadly.

“Didn’t think a princess could summon one?”

He could’ve laughed at the bit of bite in her voice, and as it was Riku snorted, smirking at Kairi in pride. Instead he scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with something right to say.

“I, no sorry, I just… figured if you had one you would’ve used it on me when I kidnapped you. Which I’m sorry about. I- sorry for kidnapping you that one time.”

She tilted her head at him, dismissing her keyblade, and he wished he could do it as easily as her. “Right. I guess uh, please take care of me as we learn together.”

“Sure…”

The week of training together hadn’t made anything any less awkward.

He tried to find a better moment to properly apologize to her, but he quickly caught onto her actions ensuring they were never alone together. It was impressive, considering how there wasn’t many places she could go to escape from his presence. They shared meals together, but Merlin was always there, and once the wizard was done she’d get up and help him clean up. During lessons there was never a chance, as he typically spent half the time just working on consistently summoning his keyblade while Merlin worked to teach her basic stances and a few spells. When they relaxed after training, she’d read or be writing something down, and he always felt bad about interrupting her.

He needed to do something to show he really was sorry, and somehow make amends. He doubted offering her some of the ice cream he had got Merlin to buy him would do the trick. It had to be something that would open up a dialogue between them, let him apologize properly to her and show that he didn’t mean her anymore harm.

Getting into the ring and still with no keyblade he scowled, shaking out both arms and lifting them up at his sides, his chakrams summoning in a flash of heat and fire. They still came easily enough, which was aggravating as they weren’t the weapon he needed to practice with. Throwing them at the wooden wall that surrounded the ring, he nodded as they stuck in, turning his back to them as he closed his eyes.

Maybe if his urge to summon his old weapons didn’t keep distracting him, he’d have an easier time of it.

He didn’t realize how long he stood there, flicking his fingers and trying to reach into his heart like Merlin had preached to him over and over again, when suddenly he heard someone clearing their throat. Eyes snapping open, he looked over to Kairi standing in the entryway to the ring, her eyes staring at the chakrams embedded in the wall.

Right. That probably raised a few concerns. He dismissed them with a wave, begrudgingly admitting to himself that this idea didn’t work, and he let out an uncomfortable cough. “Where’s Merlin?”

“The three good fairies called him for some magic advice. Apparently they wanted his opinion on some new clothing enchantment they’re making, so he told me to go on ahead,” she shrugged, eyeing him as she approached him. “I guess we’ll just have to try sparring out on our own.”

This felt like a recipe for disaster.

But it was the first time they were on their own, maybe he could finally get his apology out, make strides to fixing things here. He watched as she did a few stretches before summoning her keyblade, glancing over at him. “Well?”

“Hm?”

“Are we starting?”

“Oh,” he looked down at his hand, flicking his wrist. Nothing. He scowled before looking up at her, considering the situation. “Sure yeah, we’ll spar. You start on that side and I’ll be over here,” he wandered away from her, rolling his shoulders back to loosen himself up.

“You haven’t summoned your keyblade,” she looked at him in confusion and he tossed her a smirk, hiding his nerves with the stroll Axel had perfected to an art.

“Yup.”

“Are you that cocky?”

“Nope,” he pointed at the spot he wanted her to stand at. “I still suck at summoning it, so I’m going to use this as a different kind of training session then Merlin was probably planning for us.”

“Which is?”

“You try to hit me as many times as you can, I’ll call out how many hits you land, while I dodge and see if I can panic summon it. Gotta find some reliable way of getting it out you know.”

She lowered her weapon, looking at him in alarm. “What if you don’t summon it? You could get really hurt!”

“Merlin’s been teaching you cure right? It’ll be fine, and besides,” he grinned at her. “You have to hit me. Think one week of training is enough to do that?”

Her dirty look was both amusing and painful, and he watched as she fell into the stance Merlin had showed her. It was similar to Sora’s, except she had better posture, although she looked much more stiff then the other boy, still uncertain with what she was doing.

He flicked his empty hand open again, and gave her a nod. “Lets go!”

There was no hesitation as she sprinted over at him, taking a fast and hard swing towards his body. He was expecting it though, and he moved quickly out of the way, passing by her side and stepping behind her, his long legs making it easy to move around the smaller girl. “Going somewhere?”

She spun around, slightly off balanced as she moved to slash upwards at him. He leaned back, watching as the blade swung inches from his face and he couldn’t help but grin.

At least she wasn’t holding back.

Hopping backwards in a zigzag manner, he kept his eyes on her as she kept going at him, each swing thrown with maybe not the intent to do damage, but to certainly give him some bruises. It would probably be better though if she could feel what an actual block was like instead of someone non stop dodging, and he threw out his arm.

No keyblade. And an opening for her to take advantage of.

She swung down upon his arm and he grunted, rolling out of the way as he shook his arm out from the jolt she had given it. “That's one!”

“Are you ok?” She was still moving towards him, but he could see the look of concern falling over her face.

He didn’t deserve her concern.

“Don’t ask your opponent if they’re ok! Keep moving!” He charged towards her this time, making her skid to prevent from crashing into him, trying to use her momentum to slash at his side. He leapt up and over her swing, letting out a hard pant as he landed back down. “You use too much force in your swings, you’re gonna tire yourself out like this. Try and be strategic, hit hard only on the strikes you know are guaranteed hits.”

“How do I know which strikes will land or not,” she grumbled, stabbing forward and making him hop back.

“You look for opening, see when someone has to reset their stance, then you hit hard. Every other strike is just to keep the pressure on, keep them unbalanced,” he dodged a few more times, watching in appreciation as she took a running start to jump and slash down at him, his lean back this time not helping as she grazed the front of him. “Two!”

“I don’t think that one counts!”

“I’m the one counting! Two!”

She let out a growl, and it went on for awhile, him dodging and her swinging, trying to pick up on which of the few techniques she knew would be best in the moment. He kept flicking his hand for the keyblade, and each failure was either a near miss or free hit for her.

It just wouldn’t come.

He could feel a few good bruises from when she had gotten him, and he was glad that even though she didn’t have much technique yet, she at least had the start of some very good instincts.

“Are you holding back?!” She was panting, not used to having to keep up with a speedy opponent with a smirk on his face. But she kept going, not willing to admit defeat just yet.

“Course I am, even though this stupid,” hand flicked out, nothing. “Keyblade won’t come out. I could always take out my chakrams, but then things would really be unfair.”

She scowled at him and he couldn’t help let out a laugh.

It was definitely a cocky mistake.

“Water!”

His eyes widened as she sent an admittedly small stream of water in his direction, and he fumbled with his hands. Water magic was something he never felt good at handling, it was natural response as fire was his main form of defense. Without thinking he held both hands open in front of him as he would if he had his chakrams to block the attack.

His keyblade formed in a flash of fire and he widened his eyes as he quickly realized two things.

One, apparently panic did make it a tad easier to summon the damned weapon.

Two, while he may be positioned to block a blow with chakrams, he definitely wasn’t with a keyblade.

The blast of water slammed into the handle of the keyblade, making it twist uncomfortably as most of the magic made past and threw him back, sliding him across the ground. He laid there, staring up at the sky in surprise, keyblade still clutched in his right hand.

“...huh.”

“Lea!”

He blinked at the yell, lifting his head up and staring as Kairi ran over to him in concern, sliding to her knees as she hovered over him. “Are you ok!? I’m sorry I shouldn’t have used magic, I got annoyed and-”

“Hey! Hey I’m ok!” He sat up, holding up his hands at her. “Don’t apologize that was good! Uh what number was I on, we should definitely add that one to the counter.”

“I hurt you!”

“I was asking for it, and really, you didn’t leave any lasting damage. Maybe a few bruises, but that's good! Means you got potential moving forward, I’m proud of you!” He gave her a grin, hoping that would help asway her worries.

She stared at him for a long time and he started to feel uncomfortable, wondering what he should say when she opened her mouth.

“What are you doing Lea?”

“...huh?”

“Like, I know you came here to learn how to keyblade train, but you kept watching me all week instead of focussing on your training, it was kind of creepy,” she frowned. “And the sparring session was supposed to help out both of us, but it feels like you changed it up so only I got anything out of this.”

“I did get something out of it, I summoned my keyblade.”

“Yeah but only cause I scared you. You know we could’ve spent time before sparring for you to work on summoning it, I would’ve helped you there.”

He stared at her and the keyblade disappeared from his hands, fingers clenching in his lap. He didn’t need her help, he shouldn’t need her help. She should be focussed on her own training, to help her friends and get stronger and make sure people like him didn’t ever hurt her again. He didn’t need her.

He didn’t deserve her help.

“I’m… sorry.”

“It's not your fault-”

“No,” he clenched his teeth before looking her in the eye. “I’m sorry, Kairi. For everything. I’ve been wanting all week to say this but it never seemed right and that's why I was being creepy. I’m sorry for kidnapping you from your home, I’m sorry for putting you in danger. I should’ve just… left you alone, you would’ve been safer if I had never come along.”

She blinked, and for a moment his view of her eyes blurred, trying to remind him of something. Perhaps it was because Namine looked at him like that once, another person he had to apologize too, if he ever got lucky enough to get that chance. He owed so many apologies he felt he would drown in them.

“You already apologized for that.”

“No I didn’t. I said a lot of words at you, because I was surprised you were here,” he took a deep breath. “And I don’t… I don’t want you to think I’m not sincere about it. And I want you to know, I’m going to make it up to you, all of it, if I can. I promise.”

She bit her lip, letting out a hum before standing up, brushing the dirt off her knees before holding out her hand to him. He stared at it dumbly, uncomprehending of her intentions.

“You don’t have to let me beat you up to make it up to me, dummy. C’mon, I’ll show you how I summon my keyblade, maybe we can figure out a better way for you to summon yours.”

“Wh...what?”

“I’m accepting your apology, Lea,” she rolled her eyes, shaking her hand impatiently at him. “And I’m giving you a chance to prove that I’m making the right choice. We’re both working to be keyblade wielders. We can’t be weird the entire time, or else Merlin is going to keep trying to make up training sessions that force us to talk.”

“Oh, is that the real reason why he isn’t here,” he reached out tentatively, gripping her hand and letting her pull him up. “Sneaky wizard.”

“Yeah,” she smiled before pointing at him. “But he probably realized we needed to talk, and weren’t going to if he was always around. It's good, right?”

“...yeah. It's good.”

“Now, I’m gonna be your teacher. No slacking off ok?”

“I...yeah ok Kairi. Thanks. And, sorry again.”

“Save the apologies after training. We got to make sure you get this right already, it's actually no fun beating you up you know. I want you to have a little bit of a fighting chance.”

He smiled, letting her lead as she broke down into steps how it was for her as she summoned her keyblade. He still felt the weight of the apologies he needed to give to her, the work that had to be put forth between them, the explanations she deserved.

But hopefully this kid would continue to be patient with him, keep giving him opportunities to move forward. He could see that she had so much potential moving into the future, and he would help her reach it. She deserved to be able to feel strong standing by her friends.

Never again would he be someone who made her feel weak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that we get a bit more of a look into Lea with his keyblade, there's a lot of mystery of how he even has it and the fact that it seems canonically a bit iffy (took him awhile to summon it properly, Xemnas destroying it), I'd love to see Lea's shift into being a true proper keyblade wielder.
> 
> Kairi and Lea ending up being bro's is so good but also like. That first bit of training must've been full of weird stutters and stops of them getting used to and Lea having to make new apologies when he stumbles, I wish we could've seen their slow crawl to friendship.


	4. Chakrams|Keyblade

“Why did you make your chakrams the handle for your keyblade?”

He blinked, looking over at where Roxas and Xion were sitting on a bench outside the training circle, watching his form as he went through a few routines. After the Keyblade Graveyard, reunions, and spending several weeks just relaxing and reconnecting, he felt it was a good time to get back into his keyblade training. And as his two best friends were old hands with the thing, he had asked them for their opinions, hoping to show off a bit and impress them with what he learned while they were gone.

He did not get the response he was expecting. They had both been pretty blunt on what areas he was lacking in, how his refusal to use anything besides fire magic was holding him back, and he grumpily conceded their point.  In retaliation though, he had dragged them with him back to Merlin’s time pocket world for the day. If they had so many problems with his form, they should at least help him get better with the all powerful weapon. And he did keep insisting that he was going to be a Keyblade Master one day, he had to grab into any help he could get.

He really wanted to see the look on everyone’s faces when Yen Sid had no choice but to grant him the title.

He just had to get there first.

“Uh, I didn’t, it's just how it looks,” he dismissed the keyblade, forming his old chakrams in its place. “See, completely separate. These are way bigger anyways.”

“It's the same shape though,” Xion tilted her head. “I don’t think I’ve seen that in other keyblade designs, and Sora’s had a ton.”

“That's only cause he keeps putting weird keychains on them. Isn’t the keyblade supposed to represent your heart anyways? Or something?”

 “I guess then my heart is very pointy and…” Lea stared at the chakram. “Round?”

“Also firey. I think the round part is right though, I remember what Sora’s looks like. although the pointy?” Roxas raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “You’re too soft for that.”

“Hey,” he pointed threateningly at the boy with a barely suppressed smirk. “I’ll have you know I can be plenty pointy when I need to be.”

“Axel’s right,” they both looked at Xion in surprise, but she had a sly smile on her face. “Look at how skinny he is, his whole body is a point. Whenever I hug you I feel like I’m hugging a knife!”

“Hey!” he dismissed the chakrams, dramatically planting his hands on his hips. “I’m not that skinny.”

“No Xion’s right,” Roxas grinned at him with a laugh. “You are really pointy.”

“Torn apart by my own best friends, I see how it is,” he rolled his eyes as they laughed together, and he gave them a soft smile. “Now, stop distracting me. I’m supposed to be getting better with this thing I don’t appreciate you trying to keep me from my destiny of being better than you half-pints.”

“That’ll never happen.”

“Well we’ll just have to see on that, won’t we.”

He resummoned his keyblade, tossing it around a few times in his hand before giving a nod, letting the training round begin again. Merlin had put intricate spells on the training ring so anyone using it would have actual enemies to hit, dodge, and fight when practicing on their own. Lea wondered why the stand in enemies were floating pieces of furniture though.

Going through the round, he kept an ear out for Roxas and Xion as they yelled at him suggestions and different mistakes he was making. Jumping up to the side he held his arm back for a toss, squinting at a zooming chair heading in his direction.

“DON’T THROW YOUR KEYBLADE! BLOCK!”

“Huh?” he looked backed at Roxas and Xion in confusion, and the motion revealed to him the stool that he hadn’t seen barrelling straight towards his head. Doing his best to throw up a block, he winced as he took the brunt of the attack, landing back on the ground with a grunt. At least he had managed to stay standing.

“Damn it…”

“You ok Axel?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” he waved off his friends concerns, looking at his keyblade with a frown.

It just felt off to him. He was used to two weapons to cover him, and he always had been a distant fighter, using his chakrams to pressure people into moving away from him, safer at a distance. It wasn’t good to go from those habits, to a keyblade that required close combat and feeling like his free hand was dangerously empty all the time. He looked at Roxas, sighing. “I kind of wish I could wield two keyblades like you. Anyway I could steal one of them from you for a bit?”

“I mean, if I could teach you sure, I wouldn’t mind, but it's like,” Roxas shrugged. “They’re my keyblades, they work as one for me. I don’t think we could trick the magical unknown keyblade system into letting you use two different ones.”

“Yeah, no obviously not,” he sighed, walking back to them, dragging his feet in aggravation. “So? Any better? Give it to me straight now.”

Roxas and Xion shared a look, and he felt his heart sink. It kind of sucked, not being able to pick up wielding faster, he felt like he was gonna keep just being stuck behind everyone else, struggling to catch up and be there for them.

He had to be there for his friends. He had to be ready in case anything tried to take them away again.

“Well, you’re still a bit too willing to throw your keyblade away at every attack, it leaves you open all the time,” Roxas rubbed his chin.

“And I still don’t like how you hold it,” Xion nodded. “I think you might break your fingers one day.”

He slumped down in dejection. “Ah.. got it…”

“But I think it's a good start! Like, you got a really unique style, which will throw people off!”

“I know I need to keep working-wait what?” he looked at Roxas, blinking.

“Like, throwing and weird stance is different from us, but obviously there’s a part of it that clicks for you, you just need to get better at when’s the best time to use that stuff,” Roxas nodded quickly. “And when you make your keyblade into your chakrams again? That's super cool, I don’t think I could do that.”

“Me neither! Well, maybe if I copied you like I did with Roxas’ keyblade and Isa’s claymore,” Xion clapped her hands together in excitement. “I think you just need to figure out how to make your whole thing more… stable I guess?”

“Axel is never stable though. More refined is more like it.”

“Yeah that's a good word for it!”

“So…” he shifted, tossing his keyblade over his shoulder as he stared at them. “You don’t think how I do this is… terrible?”

“What?”

“No!”

“We never thought you were terrible. Just kind of… really rough,” Xion wiggled her hand back and forth. “But you still look cool at least!”

“Yeah! Which is obviously most important.”

“That and not getting hit.”

“Eh, looking cool is still more important. Hayner said so.”

“Hayner doesn’t fight Roxas.”

“He does in Struggle matches!”

He felt a small smile fall over his face as his two friends bickered. It still didn’t feel great being so far behind everyone else with keyblade training, but he supposed that was ok. He got into it later then everyone else, and had a completely different skillset holding him back. Eventually he’d adapt to it.

And honestly, his friends saying he looked cool was a nice ego boost.

“Alright, thanks,” he stretched his arms up with a grin. “I think I’ll do one more round and then its ice cream time.”

“Aw yeah! Ice cream! You’re paying.”

“With what munny-you know what sure, fine, whatever.”

He swung his keyblade in his hand, watching the blade sparkle with an ever burning flame. One day he’d feel like this weapon was a proper extension of himself. He just had to keep reaching for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, I am like, two minutes into day 5 posting this but this prompt was just giving me the hardest time.
> 
> I do love his weapons though, they're so cool. And his keyblade is so unique compared to everyone else's with the flame motif going on, I love it.

**Author's Note:**

> For the 8 Days of Axel going on over on Twitter and tumblr, check this link out to learn more from the person who's putting it together: https://twitter.com/viiixel/status/1134898444923883520


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